Is This Thing On? A Review

IS THIS THING ON?

Dying is easy, comedy is hard. Thus goes a familiar refrain in the world of acting. What if, however, you are dying while doing stand-up comedy? Is This Thing On? uses the world of comedy clubs to deal with serious issues. Well-acted and directed, Is This Thing On? works as a character study and a portrait of healing through laughter.

Alex and Tess Novak (Will Arnett and Laura Dern) are separating after twenty-six years and two children. There is no outlying issue, no adultery or abuse. They have just grown apart. Alex works in finance. Tess, a former Olympic volleyball athlete, has been primarily a stay-at-home parent. 

The impending divorce is not generally known to their circle of friends, especially obnoxious actor Balls (director and cowriter Bradley Cooper) and his wife Christine (Audra Day). Alex does tell his mother Marilyn (Christine Ebersole), who isn't happy because she likes Tess more than she does Alex. Alex's immigrant father Jan (Ciaran Hands) is aware and more understanding of the situation. 

Alex is sad and slightly high after he and Tess took a marijuana-laced cookie from Christine. In his addled state, Alex hits a bar but rather than pay a cover charge he signs up for a stand-up comedy set (comics can get in free). To his utter surprise, Alex's commiserating on his life proves a mild hit with the audience. To his greater surprise, Alex finds his growing stand-up act therapeutic and enjoyable. He starts enjoying the company of professional comics, even managing to have a one-night stand with brash comedienne Jill (Jordan Jensen).

Tess, for her part, is unaware of any of this. Even if she were, she is more focused on restarting her life. Tess soon starts looking to return to athletics via coaching for colleges. This gets the attention of Laird (Peyton Manning), a former friend and recent divorcee. To get their minds off their troubles, they hit a comedy club where a last-minute up-and-comer makes jokes about his fraught relationship. Despite it all, Tess and Alex still love each other. They love their children Felix (Blake Kane) and Jude (Calvin Knegten). Will Alex and Tess be able to rebuild their lives separately? Will they be able to rebuild their lives together?

Is This Thing On? is, I don't think, original in where it takes our characters. The screenplay, cowritten by Cooper, Arnett and Mark Chappell with story by Cooper, Arnett and John Bishop, seems oddly familiar to me. I do not mean in terms actual plot but in terms of situations and circumstances. Here is a middle-aged man, going through a crisis, who finds both an outlet and camaraderie in a new world. It hits similar notes as the original Shall We Dance? but in the world of stand-up. Despite the feeling that Is This Thing On? covers familiar ground, I found myself drawn into the film.

Major credit for that is due to most of the cast. Will Arnett is excellent as our everyman who finds stand-up comedy cheaper than therapy. Arnett's gravelly voice adds to Alex's haggard nature. This is a good man, a decent man, who finds himself in a difficult situation. "You're not naive. You're innocent", Alex is told by comic club impresaria Kemp (Amy Sedaris). Alex is clearly not a trained or professional stand-up comic. Is This Thing On? shows that he is not interested in starting a new career or even a sideline. At one point, he sarcastically says that he is not going to go on tour. He even seems almost apologetic about the whole thing when he has to cover up his joke folder that his children find. 

In this scene, we see Alex's genuine desire to protect his children while also trying to find an outlet for the deep confusion and hurt that he carries. What stand-up comedy is to Alex, in Arnett's excellent performance, is an outlet and chance to take stock of where he is and how he got there. Alex lets himself be loose on stage, and in a sense, allows himself to lose himself there. It is perhaps not unexpected when he has a disastrous set where instead of finding humor, he uses the stage to vent a rage. Is This Thing On? is, if nothing else, going to hit some expected moments.

I knew that it would be only a matter of time before Tess found Alex's act while trying to enjoy the show. Granted, I was not expecting to see former football quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning as her unofficial date at the comedy club. 

The rush to make a last-minute gig is a bit cliched. However, I appreciated how Is This Thing On? did not overdramatize the rush to find people to watch Felix and Jude. It even allowed for some realism and comedy to come through. Alex, in a hesitant but direct way, tells Marilyn and Jan that he has a stand-up booking. "I had no idea your life was so bad", Marilyn tells her son. For his part, Jan tells Alex that this is a sign of a midlife crisis and that he's better off buying a motorcycle.

In other films, this might have made for a big moment. Instead, director Bradley Cooper made it as realistic as possible. He did not draw attention to it nor build it up for some major punchline. 

I was impressed with how Bradley Cooper directed his actors. Of particular note is Alex's stand-up scenes. They are almost if not always with close-ups, rarely breaking away from Alex. We are there to see Alex stumble, bumble and occasionally successfully hit his routines. Cooper directs most of his cast quite well. Laura Dern makes Tess into a competent woman who does struggle with the potential end of her marriage. She too is also trying to move on. She too loves her children. She too has regrets and unrecognized anger within herself. One should give major credit to someone who made a professional athlete, particularly one with a strong Southern drawl, not look as if he was just making a glorified cameo appearance. Manning does a respectable job as Laird, though any suggestions that he will be a romantic rival to Alex quickly disappear. 

In their smaller roles, Ebersole and Hinds do strong work as Alex's parents. Ebersole handles more of the lighter moments, such as when she expresses sadness over the impending divorce because she happens to like Tess as a friend. Hinds plays Jan as well-meaning and not as unaware as Marilyn thinks he is. He has a nice moment near the end when he unexpectedly shows up at Alex's gig. Jan offers him words of encouragement and wisdom, which I think will move the audience. 

Is This Thing On? does two good things with our couple. First, it does not demonize one over the other. Tess is not a shrew or harpy. Alex is not disengaged nor self-absorbed. They at heart are good people, well-meaning but flawed in their efforts. Second, it portrays much of its story realistically, or as realistically as a film about someone using comedy to deal with his life can. Is This Thing On? respects the audience that will allow for a little leeway in silliness but won't go full-on absurd.

This is why the Balls/Christine subplot keeps floundering. Cooper as Balls in particular is such an unwelcome distraction. I do not know if Balls and Christine were meant as some kind of parallel to Alex and Tess. However, Balls as a character did not work. He was too cartoonish as the arrogant, clueless actor. Cooper should have removed him altogether, or at least not made him so absurd. The gay couple played by Sean Hayes and Scott Icenogle were pointless and added nothing to the film. Well, maybe enough diversity for Best Picture consideration. 

"I was unhappy in our marriage. I wasn't unhappy with our marriage", Alex tells Tess near the end of Is This Thing On? I found that to be a moving statement, an acknowledgement that troubles will always come in a long-term relationship. Is This Thing On? is a good film about how two people can find themselves and each other after losing themselves. Laughter, it seems, really is the best medicine. 

DECISION: B+